In manufacturing of molded containers, such as glass bottles and jars, commercial variations are often related to variations in the associated molds of origin. For this reason, it is desirable in an automated manufacturing operation having a plurality of molds to identify a specific container with its mold of origin, and the associated commercial variations with molds of origin for repair or replacement of molds creating excessive non-compliant or non-commercial product. The term “commercial variations” refers to variations—e.g., dimensional variations that can affect the commercial acceptability of the containers.
Individual section (IS) machines typically include a plurality of mold cavities and automated apparatus for feeding glass gobs to successive molds to form the containers, such as through blow molding. The blown containers are then fed by suitable conveying apparatus to a lehr for annealing, and then to a so-called “cold end” where inspecting and sorting are performed prior to packaging the containers for shipment. Desirably, the packaged product is free from unacceptable commercial variations, such as may result through problems developed over time in the molds. When problems do result, particularly within the molds, it is desirable to detect the problems as quickly as possible so that the molds can be repaired or replaced to prevent the continued production of containers having unacceptable commercial variations.